Any latest news on what Barney is doing?

i currently have him as the street boss, with the rest of the leadership as follows:

Boss: Vacant
Three-Man Ruling Panel: Tino "The Greek" Fiumara (Dead), others Unknown
Acting Boss: Daniel "Danny the Lion" Leo (Jailed)
Street Boss: Liborio "Barney" Bellomo
Underboss: Venero "Benny Eggs" Mangano
Consigliere: Dominick "Quiet Dom" Cirillo
New Jersey Faction Boss: Vacant since death of Tino "The Greek" Fiumara in 2010
Estimated Membership: About 270 Made Members

http://fivefamiliesnyc.blogspot.com/p/current-leadership-of-five-families.html

I thought Ida was consiglieri? I haven't read anything that has said Cirillo is anything more than a capo. I know he was acting boss at one time though, didn't he step down?

Jimmy Ida's been locked up since '97. He's doing life.

Being that it's next to impossible to send orders from federal lockup, it wouldn't be very prudent of the Genovese family to have an incarcerated consigliere. And the Genoveses are VERY prudent.

Ida was the last known consigliere. Anyone else being named in that position since is pure speculation. Same for Benny Mangano, who was the last known underboss of the family. It's possible these positions were simply never filled again, at least in an official capacity, much like with the boss position after Chin died.

It's basically been acting bosses, which is essentially the same thing as street boss, for the last several years. Sometimes this title has been in reference to a single person, as in "the" acting boss, other times some have been called "an" acting boss. These have included Barney Bellomo, Dominick Cirillo, Frank Serpico, Ernie Muscarella, Artie Nigro, Matty Ianniello, Danny Leo, and Tino Fiumara. On a 3 man ruling panel you basically have 3 acting bosses.

Since Danny Leo was incarcerated, he's obviously no longer in a position to be acting boss. And it was never revealed who was on this 3 man panel with Fiumara before he died.

And the Genovese family's membership is closer to 200.

barney will be out of the mob if hes got some brains ... cos the mobs over init,, what i can see hapening is gravano doing interviews on tv n making an attempt at celebrity because of his daughter doing that mob wives n other stuf , what do u think abot tht

though he probably has a ton of legitimate business dealings and probably will never be out on the street with a gun in his hand for the rest of his life, I doubt Bellomo would ever leave "the life". Look at his history, from when he was a young boy. He is basically the embodiment of what "Cosa Nostra" is or at least what the Genovese want it to be. I'm not sure what you were asking about the Mob Wives thing but Bellomo's daughter is a successful lawyer and his family are respected members of the community - they'd never get involved in something like that.

re: Gravano - hes in jail for life and looks sick as all hell. id like to see another interview from him before he dies sometime though. that'd be funny if he came clean with all the shit he did that he left out when he flipped.

I know there is always a lot of speculation over membership numbers, and I know Ivy you have always said the Gambino's have around 200 same for the Genovese. Dapper Don on here has I think said 260 for Genovese and 230-50 for the Gambino's? (I think I saw that on fivefamilies website).
When Marino got busted last year the prosecutor said something like "he controlled over 200 made men" Couldn't that mean maybe 215-220 made guys? Also if the Genovese are the most powerful, secure family couldn't they feasibly have more made guys than that?

More members does not mean that a family is strong or secure. 260 for Genovese is to high, also for the Gambino's.

Yeah I know it doesn't equal strength but i thought they may have more because they have had less rats than other families, also a bit more secretive

The most reliable sources estimate the strongest family (genovese) as +- 200.The active members is even less. They are secretive yes, but there is also a huge problem with getting young members. The bulk of the families are guys in the late 40s 50s.

I wouldn't be surprised if the bulk of the made guys were even older than that... I think there are still young guys who want to get made but the leaderships are very cautious about trusting people these days for obvious reasons!

The average made guy in the Genovese family is definitely older than 40.

As far as young guys getting made: General attrition has thinned the ranks of the Mafia in the United States more than anything else, including the Feds. Italian Americans are now among most upwardly mobile descendants of all European immigrants who arrived here between 1880 and 1920.

In short, more and more Italian Americans are going to college and going into white collar jobs. They've mostly moved to the suburbs and assimilated. There aren't any Italians left in "Little Italy." Just tourist trap restaurants. Some of our ancestors may not have had a choice about how to make a living, but we do.

So why be a scumbag criminal who preys on his own kind, when you can learn a trade or go to school and be a REAL American success story?

This is true. Bellomo's kids are all educated, and his daughter, Sabrina (the lawyer), was actually instrumental in getting Barney a light sentence after his plea deal in the Ralph Coppola murder indictment (he ended up pleading guilty to mail fraud for an additional year in jail).

Having grown up in the Bronx during the 60s and 70s, I've encountered plenty of gangsters' kids. And the truth is, most of them are spoiled and useless. Barney's kids are an exception. They'd NEVER participate in a sleazy reality show.

PB I bet you have seen some real changes in the neighborhood on a mob level in your time...growing up did you see a lot of wiseguys hanging around like the start of goodfellas? very Interested to hear about how then compares to now!

Well, the beginning of "Goodfellas" was set in East New York, Brooklyn. But from what I know about the area, I think it was a pretty accurate depiction. I had an Uncle who lived on Pacific Street, so we made the trip to East New York quite a bit. East New York is on par with Beirut today .

I grew up on Hoffman Street in the Belmont/Little Italy section of the Bronx. And I have to say, the depiction of the neighborhood in "A Bronx Tale" was spot on. It really reminded me of being a little kid back in the late 60s.

Today Belmont is mostly Albanian and Latino. And the truth is, even the Albanians are starting to move out to the suburbs. The whole "Albanian Mafia" thing has been blown way out of proportion. Most of them are very hard working people. Many of them work as pizza makers for the Italians that are left in the area.

In the 60s and 70s were Mob guys prolific in Italian American communities? Also was Little Italy much bigger than just a single street?

Yeah, everything was on a bigger scale. Plus, when you're a little kid, your neighborhood feels like the whole world.

Times change, demographics change. That's America. I've lived in the Throggs Neck section of the Bronx for the past 25 years. It's still mostly Irish and Italian. But that will eventually change, too.

If a crime family has no official boss but it has an acting boss, isn't the acting boss simply speaking the boss? I'm not sure about the difference between a "normal" boss and an "acting" boss if an acting boss has no one to 'act' for.

And how do we know the Genovese family is currently led by a so called acting boss? Is it actually confirmed on a wire or by a cooperative that the Genoveses use this term themselves?

I agree, Sonny.

Acting boss, street boss, official boss. It's enough to make you drink .

The boss is the boss. That's the way I see it.

That's the way "Neil" saw it too.

But this is also my understanding.

I think the reason they still differentiate between an "acting boss," as opposed to "boss or "official boss," is because - at least traditionally - the official boss position is permanent; even if they go to prison. Carmine Persico being a good example. But with changes happening so rapidly at the top nowadays, it makes more sense to have an acting boss - for as long as he lasts on the street. He doesn't necessarily have to be acting for someone else, although that certainly is another way to be an acting boss. And, yes, while he's in that position he has all the effective power an official boss would have.



The last known acting boss was Danny Leo, who was identified as such through FBI sources to Jerry Capeci in late 2006. Whether that's the exact term the family uses or not, I don't know. But that's how the feds said they were "carrying him" or recognizing him as such.

Absolutely. For all the NY families the average range is early 60's to early 70's, with Genovese members being older on average.

yeah i am going to revise those numbers downward in the future, i got them from this article capeci did in a nymag a few years back

Barney will be the next boss and I bet he will have front acting boss's like the chin did.